It just dawned on me that I have an entirely new group of football supporters to annoy this season. And first up is Sheffield Wednesday. And while I will annoy them, for many it will be the first time that they get to visit a wonderful old ground like Hillsborough. There might also be a chance to have a little pop at Barry Bannan, but only for those that want to.

So yes, the fixtures came out. And we also know we are playing Luton in the League Cup on August 8th. But it's not just that, more things have happened and we even have some rumours. And I know I say this every season, but this season, I think it's okay to talk about speculation, because it will be interesting to see what actually happens.

What we know

So, I'll start with the news that has been confirmed before getting to the news that hasn't been confirmed. And we know that Eric Black has gone. Eric Black, for those with short memories is the man that took over from Remi Garde in March thinking he could win the league with us. He failed and as a result he's gone.

In fairness, I can understand why he gave it a go. It was the shop window for him. But the right man would have given it a go with the players that didn't get us into that mess. But, that is old news now. We don't need to dig up the dead.

And we also know that Gabby Agbonlahor and Micah Richards are still Aston Villa players. But that should all change fairly soon.

What people are saying

So, after that, we move on to what people are saying. First up is that Celtic are apparently willing to pay £6mn for Trevor Sinclair. I can't believe they are. Actually scrap that, they've now got Brendan Rodgers, so anything is possible. He'll ruin Celtic because he believes he is better than he is and because he believes if he doesn't spend the money he's not doing his job.

Rodgers hasn't figured out that it's about getting the best out of the players he has. I feel sorry for Celtic. But I'm a grumpy old man and I feel sorry for a lot of people now.

About England

And on that, I must leave you and sit in the sun but before that, I want to talk about England. And many of you will know that I don't really watch friendlies and you know what, I didn't watch the first half the other night after the changes to the team. I couldn't be bothered.

I watched Wales and enjoyed it a lot more.

The bottom line is that those in the game and the likes of the manager are too close to the game and the players. We all know who should have been taken to France and we all know who should have started the other night. Basically, the average smart supporter could have made better decisions in who to take to France and who to start in each of the games.

And this isn't hindsight. The game is broken.

Author: Damian

Damian started The Villa Blog as a passion project quite a few years ago while he was living in South Africa. Now living in Sweden, it continues. He's originally from Chasetown and grew up when supporting Villa meant there was a real chance of silverware at the start of every season.